


The Traveller in the Dark

by Gigi_Sinclair



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Implied Character Death, Kid Fic, M/M, Not so happy ending, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 21:38:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11044845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gigi_Sinclair/pseuds/Gigi_Sinclair
Summary: "They discussed this possibility before they embarked on the lengthy process required for them to have a genetic child. One day, one of them was going to have to leave the other, for the sake of their daughter. It was a forgone conclusion."





	The Traveller in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hollycomb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollycomb/gifts).



> This is a (slightly late) birthday present for hollycomb, and for all she does for the Kylux fandom. Title from the little known third verse of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

General Hux is going down with his ship. Or, rather, his base. 

As commanding officer, it's his duty—his privilege—to do so. If he's a little less enthusiastic at the prospect than he would have been a few years ago, that has absolutely no bearing on what he needs to do. 

“Commander Mitaka,” Hux barks. An X-wing streaks past the viewscreen, flying low to the ground. “I want all civilians evacuated at once. Get as many TIEs as possible to shield the shuttle until it's out of range.” Hopefully, not even the Resistance are depraved enough to fire on an obvious evacuation ship, but he can't leave that to chance. 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Then I want every last man in the hangar. 'Troopers, techs, officers, anyone who can fire a blaster. Those bastards are not getting in here.” 

“No, sir.” 

The force of an explosion rocks the building, knocking Hux to the floor. He scrambles to his feet. On the screen beside him, an X-wing spins away, flaming, but the damage is already done. Hux steps over the fallen officer beside him and takes the woman's seat himself, putting on the headset just in time to see another X-wing soar into view. “Fire on my mark, bearing eight-five-zero-point-one-seven.” He watches until the X-wing is in range, holding his nerve until he can practically see the pilot's smirking face. 

“Fire!” 

A warm thrill of satisfaction fills Hux as the X-wing explodes in front of him. The triumph doesn't last long. At once, two more appear to take the downed ship's place. Hux prepares to repeat his order when behind him, a small voice says, “Daddy!”

Hux swivels in his chair. “What are you doing here?” Ren and Rey stand on the command deck, the little girl in Ren's arms. A cut mars Ren's forehead, bleeding into his eyebrow, but Rey seems unharmed. Wearing her little blue nightgown, she clutches her stuffed bantha to her chest, her eyes wide with fear. 

“We need to talk,” Ren growls. 

“It's really not the moment. Get on the evac shuttle, both of you.” A pang of emotion, unbidden and unnecessary, shoots through Hux. _I'll never see them again._ “I'll be with you soon,” he lies. 

“Hux.” The room heaves again, support beams groaning. Rey clings to Ren, who braces himself against a console to keep from falling. 

Hux pulls off the headset. “Mitaka." He looks at his second-in-command. “Take over here. I'll be back in a moment.” 

They can't waste time getting to Hux's office. They go to a corner of the bridge instead, far enough out of the way that no one could overhear unless they strained to listen. No one will. 

“I'm not leaving you here,” Ren says, stubbornly. 

“Daddy!” Rey repeats. She holds out her arms for Hux. He takes her, balancing the lanky four-year-old on one hip as she buries her face in his shoulder. 

“You need to go, Ren. For her.” They discussed this possibility before they embarked on the lengthy process required for them to have a genetic child. One day, one of them was going to have to leave the other, for the sake of their daughter. It was a forgone conclusion. 

Hux never wanted a family. He never wanted anything, particularly, beyond military power and prestige, both of which came to him in spades after the unqualified success of Starkiller. It was the crowning achievement of his life. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep using his weapon indefinitely. There is no point in ruling an empty galaxy, and, having deployed it twice, there was no need to continue such extreme measures. Once they understood the true scope of the First Order's might--of Hux's might--planets fell over themselves to declare their allegiance. 

The Supreme Leader was overjoyed by Hux's success. Hux's relationship with Ren received Snoke's blessing, in the form of Snoke loudly declaring, “I had my doubts, I admit it, but now I see your personal arrangement is beneficial to us all,” as they stood in the audience chamber. 

Hux, who until that moment had been under the impression it was a _secret_ personal arrangement, was less eager than Ren to make the affair public, but it didn't harm his reputation. As rivals, Hux and Ren had been intimidating. As a united front, they were untouchable.

The child was Ren's idea.

“It will slow us down,” Hux complained. While his weapon was still there, an ever-present threat to anyone who might think of stepping out of line, Starkiller Base had been revamped as an operations centre for the New Empire. Civilians and First Order personnel worked side by side to administer the ever-growing territory, presided over by General Hux. “I don't want to be held back by a baby.” 

“But think of the power such a child would have! It's our responsibility to plan for the future.” 

“Because we both had such great examples of what parents should be?” 

Ren scowled, but he didn't let up. Eventually, Hux gave in. Ren was right, he reasoned. They needed to ensure their legacy, and Hux surely wouldn't have to interact much with the child. 

He wasn't there when she was “born”, which meant removed from a gestational pod in an extremely expensive laboratory because not even a male would-be Sith, apparently, could do the useful, economical thing and bear the child himself. Ren named the baby Rey, apparently for no deeper reason than that he liked it. If the name had anything to do with Hux's childhood mentor, he never said. 

Ren played with her. Ren cared for her. Ren loved her. Ren carried her about in a ridiculous sling across his chest, which no one dared mock, at least not within Hux's earshot. Biologically, she belonged to both of them, but Rey was Ren's daughter. Until Ren went on a mission to find some Sith artifacts, and Hux was left alone with Rey and the nanny droid. 

The droid was an off-putting thing, obviously not human but not quite droid-like enough, either. Its big, round face was frozen in a static smile and decorated, if one could use the term, with garish black and white spots, stripes and zig-zags. This, according to Ren, was because young infants could discern such patterns more easily than any others. To Hux's mature eyes, it was a mess. The droid's voice, cheerful and soothing at once, was even more irritating. It arrived in his office the evening after Ren left, pushing Rey in a wheeled chair in front of it. “General Hux, your shift ended twenty-seven minutes ago,” the droid said, in a gentle, inoffensive tone. 

Hux looked up from his screen. “Yes. That's right.” He suppressed a shudder at the sight of it. Despite what many believed, he had not been raised by a droid himself. The coldness he'd received as a child had been of a purely organic variety. 

“I am programmed to deliver Rey to you twenty-seven minutes after the end of your shift.” 

Hux rolled his eyes. “Then re-program yourself. I'm not done here.” 

“I am programmed to switch off after ensuring the child is in your care.” 

“Well, she's not. I told you, I'm not done...” 

The droid ignored him. With a beep, opaque screens descended in front of its wide, unblinking eyes. Hux sighed and got up. Ignoring Rey, who gurgled in his direction, Hux popped the back panel off the droid and pressed the manual reset button. It buzzed defiantly. Sighing, Hux reached back further, his fingers hunting for the override switch. Instead, he found a small piece of flimsi. Pulling it out, Hux read: _It's password protected. It'll come back online fifteen minutes before the start of your next shift._ Hux cursed. For all his reliance on the mystic properties of the Force, Ren had an equally solid grasp of engineering, particularly when he could use it to annoy. _Spend time with your daughter._ Hux crumpled the flimsi and looked at the baby. She gave a toothless smile and threw up. 

The civilian population of Starkiller Base included a small group of officers' spouses and an even smaller group of officers' children. That didn't mean Hux wanted to be seen parading through the base pushing a baby in front of him. He stuck to the back corridors, so it took nearly twice as long as usual to get to his quarters. Before Hux even had the chance to park the pushchair, Rey was making little mewling noises, something Hux associated more with a felinx than a human child. 

“What is it?” He asked, then realized how silly a question it was. That didn't keep him from continuing to speak aloud, as if she could understand him. As if she could reply. “Are you tired? What time do you normally go to bed?” When Hux got home, she was almost always asleep, either in her cot or, more usually, atop Ren's chest on the sofa. Rey began to cry harder. 

Hux frowned. “I'm sorry, I simply don't know how I can be of assistance.” 

Rey screamed, tiny fists balled up at her sides. Clearly, he had to call someone. Before he could decide whether a medic or a droid mechanic would be a better choice, a rattling noise came from the kitchenette. The door to the small conservator flew open and a bottle sailed across the room, landing hard on Rey's little body. “Oh. I see.” Hux blinked. “Well, you definitely didn't get that skill from me.” The bottle hadn't landed close enough for her to reach the nipple. Rey sobbed in frustration. Hux lifted the bottle, pushing the nipple into Rey's eager mouth. 

She drank the formula quickly. So quickly that Hux worried, for a moment, that it might not be enough, but when she'd sucked the last of the dregs from the bottom, she belched loudly and closed her eyes. Relieved, Hux put the empty bottle on the counter for the housekeeping droid and collapsed on the sofa. 

It took ten seconds for doubt to set in. Should she sleep in her pushchair? She never did when Ren was home. Rey seemed comfortable there, but as Hux examined her, leaning in so closely he could feel her warm breath on his face, her neck appeared to be propped at an odd angle. That couldn't be good, surely. Moving at a sarlacc's pace, he unbuckled the safety harness and carefully, carefully lifted her up. She snuffled and squirmed. Hux held his breath, but she didn't open her eyes. Hux considered transferring her directly into her cot, but that seemed a risky move when she was still unsettled. Instead, he sat down, holding her stiffly in his arms. He rather wished he'd thought to take off his gloves first.

He hadn't held Rey much. Ren had forced her on him, once or twice, in the very early days, but Hux was recalcitrant, for her sake as much as his own. Babies were so fragile, and he had no experience with them. It seemed safer to leave it to Ren, who was apparently a natural father, and to the nanny droid, who'd been built expressly for this purpose. Hux always passed her off as quickly as he could. Now, looking at her, it felt like he was seeing her for the first time. 

Rey favoured Ren in her appearance, with her dark hair and big eyes, but there were traces of Hux's mother there, too. _She would have loved you_ , Hux thought, smiling a little. She would have had expectations of Hux, as well, of what kind of father he should be regardless of how he'd been treated growing up. “It doesn't matter where you came from,” his mother often said. It's one of the very few memories he has of her. “It only matters where you're going.” 

Hux had gone a long, long way in his professional life. Could he do the same with his family? The baby looked sweet, asleep with a chubby hand against her face, but gazing at her brought him no epiphany of sudden parental adoration. Still, he did feel something unexpected. “Perhaps,” Hux whispered, his voice barely audible, “you and I could love each other one day.” These things couldn't be expected to happen overnight. After all, it had taken him nearly five years to get there with Ren. 

It didn't take that long with Rey. 

***

The base shakes as the Resistance strike another direct hit. The red alert klaxons, screaming since the first sight of the X-wing armada, short out, falling eerily silent. An ominous creak emanates from the infrastructure, but it holds. For now. 

“You have to get on that transport,” Hux insists. “Go, now. I can get them to hold it for you, but you need to hurry.” 

“Hux.” Ren is too calm. That, more than anything else, causes panic to rise in Hux, gripping him by the throat until he breathes deeply and forces it back down again. “There is nowhere for us to go,” Ren says. 

“You can hide out. You're resourceful, I'm sure there's somewhere...”

“The tide is turning. If they find me, I will not survive.” Ren is matter-of-fact about it. Hux feels anything but. “If they take Rey, they will teach her we were monsters. My...my mother will teach her we were monsters.” 

“Then what choice do we have?” Hux asks, although he knows how Ren will reply to that. He's not wrong. That doesn't mean Hux wants to hear it. 

As she grew older, Rey became more interesting. She was a bright toddler, always wanting to know “why?” even to statements that would not normally elicit such a response. It was wearisome, but Hux appreciated the spark of intellect that only grew stronger with time. Dressed in her little snowsuit, she loved to explore the forest around the base where they lived, examining everything around her, even the dormant weapon itself, and asking question after question, never satisfied she had the full story about everything. 

One evening, after she and Hux had spent an afternoon building a catapult from interconnecting plastisteel blocks in order to fling treats at Millicent, Rey was sleeping soundly in her bedroom when Ren said, “I want to show you something.” 

“What?” Hux looked up from his work. He'd neglected it to play with Rey. A dangerous habit to get into, but one he couldn't make himself regret today. 

Ren produced a small, round, flat object, made of some kind of dark stone. It resembled a set of gears, a larger circle attached to a smaller one, covered in unintelligible markings. Ren drew nearer, setting the object on the desk in front of Hux. Hux glanced at it, then back at his datapad. 

“It's Sith,” Ren said. “I found it when I went looking for that collection of ancient artifacts.” 

“You told me that mission was a failure.” Hux had, at the time, suspected it was a ruse, a fabricated assignment designed to get him to bond with Rey. It worked, a little.

“It was. I only found this.” Colour came to Ren's cheeks, miraculously unscarred after years of battle. “I would have told you about it sooner, but I wanted time to figure out what it is.” 

“And?” Hux couldn't say he was waiting with bated breath. He had little interest in the archaeology of the Sith, and even less use for their artifacts.

“It's a time travel device.” 

That caught Hux's attention. “Does it work?” 

“Within limitations.”

“What sort of limitations?”

“It only works within the equivalent of about twenty-six and a half standard years.” So Ren couldn't go back and meet his grandfather. That was surely disappointing to him. Hux was certain it would have been the first thing that had sprung to his mind. “And it can only be used by those who are exceptionally strong with the Force.” 

“Is there any way it can be used to help us?” 

Ren sighed. “Perhaps. But you aren't going to like it.” 

“I'm listening.”

Ren held his gaze. He may have looked the same, but internally, he'd changed over the years they'd been together. They both had, Hux supposed. If Hux had relaxed a little, Ren was more mature, a more reliable ally than he'd been in his tempestuous younger days. It made him even more attractive. Between Rey and work, they had little time to themselves, but lack of opportunity hadn't diminished Hux's desire. If anything, it made it stronger. Almost unconsciously, he moved forward, inching closer to Ren. His nascent lust was immediately dashed, killed in its cradle when Ren said, “There is a chance we will be defeated some day.” 

Hux withdrew. “I'm working very hard to ensure we won't be.” 

“You can't guarantee it. No one could. We need to be prepared. We need a plan in place for Rey.” 

“One of us will have to abandon our position to ensure her safety. Probably you.”

“If it's feasible.” Ren agreed. “If it's not, we can't leave anything to chance.” 

Hux frowned. “You aren't suggesting...”

“No one would think to look for her in the past. Not the Resistance. Not Snoke.” Ren's voice hardened on the last word. They were still master and apprentice, but Ren's patience for the Supreme Leader seemed to dwindle every day. Of one thing Ren had always been certain. “He will never,” Ren told Hux, soon after Rey was born, “get his hands on her.” 

“That's madness.” 

“We have to ensure her survival. I know you understand that.” Hux did. Even the thought of losing Rey was painful. But to throw her into the past? 

“Where would she go?”

“I've found a planet.”

“And I don't get to be privy to the name?”

“The fewer who know, the safer she is. I know you understand that.” Hux did, unfortunately. “She will be safe there, Hux. And we can bring her back, if the situation changes enough to allow it.” _If_ , Hux added silently, _we survive._

Hux agreed, of course, as a last resort. His career had been built on worst-case scenarios and contingency plans he hoped he would never have to use. 

This, apparently, is not one of those hypothetical situations. 

“We're under heavy fire, sir,” Mitaka calls unnecessarily, as the room continues to rock. The emergency power flickers, but stays on. Rey hugs him tightly. Hux indulges himself for just a moment, pulling her close and kissing her soft hair, done up in three buns the way she likes. Then he hardens his heart, steels himself and does what he's always done: the right thing. 

“Listen to me, Rey.” He sets her down and crouches, looking into her face. “We must all do our duty. The First Order expects it of every one of us.” She nods, eyes wide, chewing her bottom lip in the way he's told her a thousand times not to do. “You're strong,” he says. “You will make us proud.” He kisses her on the forehead, lingering as long as he dares. When emotion threatens to overcome him, he stands. “Go with your father.” He strides back to his station. Without meaning to, he glances over his shoulder. “I love you,” he says, to both of them. He can't remember ever saying it aloud before. 

“Bye, Daddy.” Rey calls. Hux pulls on the headset and hopes nobody hears the catch in his voice when he orders, “Fire on my mark, bearing nine-four-five-point-one-nine.”

Ren returns remarkably quickly, alone. He comes up behind Hux, standing as near as he can get without touching. Hux barks out orders, bringing down X-wing after X-wing, but the ships keep coming, and the base is falling apart at the seams. News from the hangar isn't good, either. The stormtroopers are putting up a valiant fight, according to Phasma, but they are losing. She's always candid like that. 

“Is it done?” Hux can't say any more than that. He doesn't trust himself to retain his composure.

“Rey is safe. It was the right decision.” Ren touches him on the shoulder. “We will meet her in the past. I've felt it.” 

“You think so?”

“We won't know her, of course, but we will find one another. She will survive.” 

“Of course she will,” Hux snaps. “She's ours.” He glances at Ren. He would expect Ren's face to be tearstained and his eyes brimming, but he actually smiles. _Maybe he does believe it_ , Hux thinks. For the first time, he lets himself believe it too. What's the harm, now?

Hux stands. He's done all he can from here. Yanking his blaster from his belt, he pulls Ren to him for a long, lingering kiss.

They can't linger too long. “Let's get down there. If we have to go, I want to take as many of these bastards with us as we can.” 

“Yes, General.” Ren draws his lightsaber and side-by-side, they head for the hangar.


End file.
